


The Winds of Change

by Ghostwriter (Zoya_Zalan)



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Challenge Response, F/M, Visions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-27
Updated: 2015-04-27
Packaged: 2018-03-25 23:53:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3829555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoya_Zalan/pseuds/Ghostwriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A shared vision, intense and ominous.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Winds of Change

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer** : Paramount owns all things Voyager; I'm just borrowing. No copyright infringement is intended. 
> 
> **Author's Note** : This story was one of my first attempts at fan fiction. It was born from a challenge issued in the original JetC13 list: A short, intense moment between J/C in under two pages.
> 
> Written January 1998.

~ * ~ * ~

"CHAKOTAY!" Janeway's piercing scream echoed painfully through his head.

"I've got you, Kathryn!" he called back, tightening his grip on her hand. She hung, dangling from the cliffside, fingers wrapped desperately around his own. Her other arm swung limply at her side, bloody and broken in several places from the fall. Her proud eyes were now filled with something not often seen: fear. And within that fear, a million other thoughts all swirled together, focused on one point in time and space... the dark eyes of the man who held her life in his hand.

Another tremor shook the earth, sending a curtain of debris cascading down the side of the cliff into the angry swells of water far below. His communicator was lost, torn from his uniform at some point, and hers couldn't be reached. Tears threatened her eyes as they both felt his hold slipping.

"NO!" he yelled to her. "I'm NOT letting go!!"

"Chakotay!" Janeway sobbed his name, digging broken fingernails into his palm. Her arm was numb, the feeling slowly ebbing away. Her entire body felt cold and her legs wouldn't respond to her silent orders. Locks of hair hung wildly about her face, escaping the bonds of her carefully arranged twist.

He risked letting go of the rock outcropping he held with his other hand, hoping to get a better grip on her arm. It was a mistake. His body slid forward, drawn by her weight. He fumbled, off balance, to reach for the rock again, but to no avail. His hold on her loosened, unwillingly, as gravity drove its overpowering force between them, stealing the very breath from their lungs. The moment lasted an eternity...

As her hand slid from the safety of his own, her eyes spoke a thousand words to him. Everything she had ever wanted to tell him, every unspoken wish, dream, and desire silently crossed the distance between them. Her mouth opened as if to speak, a look of complete horror sweeping across her features as she began to fall, but no sound emerged.

Chakotay relaxed his body as he continued to slip forward, not fighting in any way. There was no hesitation, no second thought. He called her name as he himself slid over the edge, still reaching for her. Somehow, amid the chaos of swirling air and dust, the fingertips of two bodies in motion, two eternal lovers, found each other with the gentlest of touches. The last thing either of them heard before the blackness took hold was the sound of a lone wolf's mournful howl from somewhere in the distance...

...Reality crushed itself back into their lungs as they both snapped out of the trance. Janeway's eyes flew open to find Chakotay staring at her, shock written across his face. They were both visibly shaken by the power of their shared vision. An involuntary sob escaped her throat before she could stop it, and she turned to rest shaking limbs on the sofa behind her. Chakotay was at her side instantly, his arms circling her shoulders. She didn't resist. Instead, she leaned into him, needing his support more than ever before.

"What does it mean?" she whispered softly, fighting back a wave of tears.

"I don't know," he replied softly. "Only time can answer that question."

She reached up and grasped his forearms tightly, not wanting to let go. He held her like that for a long time, until her own strength started to return. However restless the winds of change may be, only one thing was for certain: they would face the future together, standing as one.

~ * ~ finis ~ * ~


End file.
